Radiation Emergency

Overview: Emergencies resulting from accidents in radionuclide laboratories may range from minor spills involving little or no personal hazard to major radiation incidents and spills that involve significant hazards and possible bodily injuries. Always take care of injuries first. Coordinate first aid measures with these procedures.

In the absence of a bodily injury to a person:

Protect personnel from further exposure to radioactive materials;

Confine any contamination to the local area; and

Notify authorities.

Radiation Safety Officer (423) 439-6056
Police, Fire, Ambulance ext. 911 Spills: Spills of radioactive material are classified as minor or major. An emergency spill procedure should be posted in every radioisotope laboratory. The recommendations for the spill procedure are listed below.

Radionuclide

Minor Spill

Major Spill

Tc-99

≤1 mCi

≥100 mCi

C-14

≤1 mCi

≥1 mCi

P-32

≤100 μCi

≥100 μCi

P-33

≤1 mCi

≥1 mCi

S-35

≤1 mCi

≥1 mCi

Ca-45

≤1 mCi

≥1 mCi

Cr-51

≤10 mCi

≥10 mCi

Fe-55

≤1 mCi

≥1 mCi

I-125/I-131

≤100 μCi

≥100 μCi

Follow these steps carefully if a spill should occur. Spills confined to the radioactive work area are not normally classified as an emergency, but should be dealt with expeditiously. If radioactive materials come in direct contact with a person, contact the Radiation Safety Office immediately, regardless of quantities involved. Any spill of radioactive material shall be cleaned up immediately.

Minor Spills:

Notify all persons in the room at once.

Permit only the minimum number of persons in the area necessary to deal with the spill.

Responsible Users shouldn't permit anyone involved in a radiation injury to return to work without prior approval of the Radiation Safety Officer.

Over-exposure or Ingestion: Any person who suspects a radiation over-exposure from any source must report immediately, by phone or in person, to the Radiation Safety Officer. Any person who swallows, injects, absorbs, or otherwise ingests radioactive materials (excluding normal environmental contaminants and medical diagnostic or therapy material) must report the intake immediately to the Radiation Safety Officer.

Fires Involving Radioactivity:

Call 911

Notify the Radiation Safety Officer.

Isolate the area and evacuate the building by shutting down all equipment in area, (if possible) and closing doors.

Use a portable fire extinguisher only to assist yourself and others to evacuate or to control or put out a small fire if a radiation hazard is not immediately present.